First Blog

What is Reality? G Donald Allen Introduction . To illustrate specifically an impossible problem, let’s solve one – or try to. “What is reality? [1] ” First, don’t worry if you disagree, as we’ll try to solve the problem in several ways. Books have been written on just this subject.  As well, the solutions offered include most of the standard theories of reality such as realism [2] , phenomenalism [3] , perception [4] , idealism [5] , pragmatism [6] , and constructivism [7] , often in combination – much to the horror of philosophers, I’m sure. Our intent is not to solve this problem, but to establish it probably cannot be solved. See Appendix A for common definitions and Appendix B for types of impossible problems. What is Reality? Solving the Reality Problem . We’ll limit ourselves to six explanations or solutions, though the simulation explanation reduces to another. As well, explanation #5 indicates we can’t do it no matter what. The descriptions are rather brief, and not anywh

Thanks for all the superb comments. Indeed, it is noted that the heavyweights have been mentioned, notably Poincare, Hadamard, Archimedes, and others. The great Albert Einstein, who used thought experiments to both pose and then solve problems should be included. These were the true problem creators and solvers in history.  History is dotted with great problems solvers in almost every genre, though their methods were not always known.  When the "prince" of mathematicians, Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777 – 1855) , was asked why it was unclear how he constructed his marvelous solutions and theories, he responded that he wished not to leave the scaffolding apparent. Henry James (1843 –  1916), an American philosopher, anticipated some of this with his pragmatic philosophy by which the solution (i.e. recourse) that works is the solution to accept.  Let me sketch a bit on problems, pre-problems, solutions, sub-solutions, pre-solutions, and problem determination. From these